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Lawyers pay high price for coming to aid of Tibetans

BEIJING–It looks and feels exactly like a passport, and it is – of a sort.

It is Jiang Tianyong's lawyer's licence: his passport to make a living.

But today it's no longer valid.

"For now, I can't practise as a lawyer," says Jiang, seated in his office in central Beijing.

Jiang thought he was acting in line with the highest principles of his profession when, earlier this year, he offered to provide legal services to Tibetans charged in the violent March 14 uprising. Jiang felt the accused – like all accused – were entitled to a proper defence.

"That's certainly what I believed," the 37-year-old lawyer says.

But in the politically charged atmosphere following the Tibetan troubles, the Chinese government didn't see it that way.

They saw Jiang's gesture – and that of 17 other human rights lawyers who publicly offered their services – as near-traitorous.

As a consequence, the renewal of the lawyers' licences were either delayed or denied.

Some lawyers were forced to negotiate. Others were required to sign statements.

But Jiang and another lawyer, Teng Biao, held out. Now, neither of their licences have been renewed. As of this month, both have been effectively disbarred.

Human rights groups and lawyers' organizations – including the Toronto-based Law Society of Upper Canada which represents 39,000 Ontario lawyers – are appalled by the Chinese government's actions.

"These threats undermine the independence of the legal profession and the objective of establishing the rule of law," the Law Society said in a recent statement to the Chinese government.

The New York-based organization, Human Rights in China, called the government's actions, "a mockery of the rule of law," saying Chinese officials are using the annual registration of lawyers as "a political tool of control."

A spokesperson for the Beijing Bureau of the Ministry of Justice said by fax Friday that the ministry was acting in accordance with the laws and regulations of China.

The threats began after Jiang, Teng and others issued a statement in April entitled, "We are willing to offer legal aid to arrested Tibetans."

In it, the lawyers appealed to Beijing to ensure fair trials for the accused by upholding the constitution, ending the practice of torture to elicit confessions and respecting the independence of the judiciary.

They felt they had legitimate cause for concern: the Tibet region's Communist Party secretary had called for "quick arrests, quick hearings, and quick sentencings" for the accused.

Within a week of the lawyers' offer, the Ministry of Justice made its displeasure plain to the Beijing Globe Law Firm where Jiang works.

"Lawyers in your law firm are involved in sensitive cases," the Beijing Bureau of the Ministry of Justice wrote, "and therefore the annual approval for the registration of your law firm will be postponed."

Jiang and many human rights lawyers contest the validity of the annual registration requirement. They say it is only an administrative regulation and does not have the power of law.

Regardless, within six weeks of the uprising, 30 Tibetans who were given government-appointed lawyers received the "quick hearings and quick sentencings" some feared. They received three years to life in prison, in trials that were criticized for failing to meet minimum international standards.

Jiang worked long and hard to become a lawyer. The decision to effectively disbar him is a blow.

It took him seven years of independent study, correspondence courses at night – while he taught junior high by day – and he wrote the bar exams twice.

But it was worth it, he says. He loves the law.

"When you think about it," says Jiang, "the key people in the French Revolution knew all about law. And the men who came together in the American Constitutional Conference – that was all about law, too."

In his articling year in 2004, Jiang worked closely with a well-known, blind human rights activist, Chen Guangcheng, who was funded by American sources to increase awareness of legal rights among blind and disabled people.

But in the course of his work with the disabled, Chen stumbled on human rights abuses in Shandong province, where officials in Linyi City were forcing female residents to abort fetuses or submit to sterilization to meet population control quotas. The discovery was a national scandal.

It was a powerful experience for Jiang, one that left a lasting impression, and he committed himself to pursuing human rights law.

"I believe being a lawyer is an important way to improve society," he says. "Although our legal system is not yet fully developed ... I think we have a vital role to play."

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